Garde's men face Ligue 1's bottom side Ajaccio on Sunday, and he insists that failure to win is not an option.
"This match [on Sunday] will be crucial for our race towards the top of the table. Everyone knows that," Garde told BT Sport. "We have to have self-esteem, bounce back. We cannot fail twice."
Lyon are sixth in the league table.
Restore Data
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Paris Saint-GermainPSG | 28 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 65 | 24 | 41 | 63 |
| 2 | Brest | 29 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 44 | 27 | 17 | 53 |
| 3 | MonacoMonaco | 28 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 53 | 38 | 15 | 52 |
| 4 | Lille | 28 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 42 | 25 | 17 | 49 |
| 5 | Nice | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 44 |
| 6 | Lens | 29 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 38 | 32 | 6 | 43 |
| 7 | Lyon | 29 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 38 | 45 | -7 | 41 |
| 8 | Reims | 29 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 39 | -3 | 40 |
| 9 | Marseille | 28 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 39 |
| 10 | Rennes | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 41 | 36 | 5 | 39 |
| 11 | Toulouse | 29 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 34 | 37 | -3 | 36 |
| 12 | StrasbourgStrasbourg | 29 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 33 | 40 | -7 | 36 |
| 13 | Montpellier HSCMontpellier | 29 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 36 | 41 | -5 | 33 |
| 14 | NantesNantes | 29 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 28 | 45 | -17 | 31 |
| 15 | Le HavreLe Havre | 29 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 27 | 37 | -10 | 28 |
| 16 | Lorient | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 35 | 52 | -17 | 26 |
| 17 | Metz | 29 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 30 | 49 | -19 | 26 |
| 18 | Clermont | 29 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 48 | -27 | 22 |
| > Ligue 1 Full Table | |||||||||
